Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Many in Kansas City watched KCPT-Ch. 19 fundraiser weeks, year after year, and got to know Wayne Dyer that way. He might be public television's greatest, most generous fundraiser. KCPT featured his interviews for years. Oh they tried other fundraiser hosts. Do you remember Andre Rial? He was a violinist conductor who looked, to me at least, like a pirate. But I believe Wayne Dyer's presentations generated the most revenues, which have happily kept KCPT on the air, despite Congressional attempts to cut off funding for Sesame Street.

Wayne was a story teller. His interviews with Anita Moorjani were especially moving and believable. He discovered her. Then introduced her to his publisher, Hay House. Then he took her on tour and made her a bestselling author. Moorjani had a very vivid "I came back from the dead" story and the two of them told that to the world.

You may also recall that Dr. Dyer shared how he was diagnosed about five years ago with leukemia. He was given about 7 months to live. Instead of traditional medical treatment, he took a spiritual healing treatment from John of God. John is a celebrated holy man in south America. According to Wayne, he was healed.

To all the skeptics out there: Wayne Dyer died...but not from leukemia! He had a heart attack. Now that is a much more electrical exit from this plane of existence.

Wayne Dyer went out like a firework. Here is a link to Katy Perry's remarkable song, Baby You're a Firework. It has been viewed 613 MILLION times. Go ahead, make it 613,xxx,xx1. It is a gorgeous video. The lyrics Wayne's life view. And get this: one line is: "some day, like a lightning bolt your heart will blow..."

Some of you may find me, in particular, a bit dark in my writing some days. But I can assure you, I am motivated to nudge all of us to speak out and make Johnson County a much better place. I launched JoCoPost.com, plus a sister blog, KCMOPost.com, out of a burst of anger at the 1%'ers (like Stan Kroenke, this week's Public Enemy #1, who keep making tax grabs. I am committed to devising strategies and organizing the silent majority into stopping those practices that are destroying the middle class here. It won't always be pretty. We will name names. But I hope that it will make a difference.

My former minister at Unity of Overland Park, Rev. Mary Omwake, now lives on Maui. She often went to the movies with Wayne, and Deepak Chopra. She hangs with some very cool company. And is a confidant of 84 year old Ram Dass, also on Maui. Mary emailed yesterday that a gathering spiritual team is at work organizing big sendoffs for Wayne--around the world, including a big event in New York Nov. 14.

Not bad for a kid whose single mother sent him and his two brothers to an orphanage at age 3. You may recall his story: At age 50, Wayne quit his tenured professor job--walked away from a job for life that did not light him up. How many of us would do that? Then he immediately drove to Alabama. He found the cemetery and for the first time, visited the grave of his father, who had abandoned the family--and FORGAVE him.

As he tells it, that day, he 'invented a more empowering interpretation' for what happened to him and his brothers. He made a decision to affirm rather than to resent. To accept the blessing of what is. And that is what allowed Wayne to say: "My father's abandonment of me, and my brothers and my mother, was the greatest gift I have ever received." And as we saw, it launched the whole second act of his great life.

Just now I learned that through his publisher, Hay House, (thank you, Louise Hay and Reid Treacy) they are allowing the world to view Wayne's most popular movie, THE SHIFT, online FOR FREE. Originally it was allowed for just one week, but now has been extended THRU SEPT 30.

So even if you watched it years ago, I invite you to check it out. It may be worth another viewing. Or sharing with a loved one. Since it is more auditory than visual, I listened to the voice track while writing this post.